Clamp operating tool



July 9, 1946 F. c. WALLACE CLAMP OPERATING' TOOL Filed June 26, 1944 INVENTOR. fr ank C.. LL/ :L /.fa c' E BY Patented July 9,1946

T OFFICE CLAMP OPERATING TOOL Frank C. Wallace, North Hollywood, Calif., as-

ysignor to HermanA H. Helbush, Los Angeles,

Calif.

Application June 26, 1944, serial iva-542,190

My present invention has to do with improve` ments in clamp holding and operating tools and, while it is adaptable for other uses, it is designed primarily for the purpose of holding springactuated sheet metal fasteners or clamps while compressing the spring which normally urges the plunger of the clamp into retracted position.l For instance, fasteners of this general type are shown in my Patents Nos. 2,266,929 and 2,271,879.

Several problems have presented themselves in providing efficient tools for holding and operating such clamps. One of those problems has been the fact that an operator must frequently use clamps of different sizes and lengths and all the operating tools heretofore have been suitable for only a single length of clamp, requiring that theV operator vcarry a plurality of operating tools and changing from one to the other as the different sized clamps are encountered, all of which requires considerable additional time and labor as well as'duplication ofv equipment.

Another respect in which such clamp holding and operating tools have been objectionable has been their lack of any practical safety means for positively securing the fastener or clamp in the tool against accidental escape while the spring of the clamp is being compressed. Such clamps usually empioy a very strong spring which must be .compressed in order to protract the clamping element from the body of the clamp, and unless the clamp is meticulously centered in the holding tool, the clamp is apt to fly out laterally and strike and injure a workman. Numerous very serious accidents have resulted from this shortcoming of prior tools.v

It is among the objects of my present invention to provide a holding and operating tool of this character which may be quickly and simply adjusted to take different sized fasteners.

It is another object to provide a tool of this character comprising a holding element and a plunger which are so operatively connected to an actuating lever as to be simultaneously moved in opposite directions, so that the fulcrum and consequently the manual effort necessary for operationfare reduced to a minimum.

Another lobject vis to provide a tool of this character embodying novel and highly efliclent safety means for retaining 'a fastener in operatlng condition and against accidentalv escape from the', tool.

Another ob'ject is the provision of a clamp holding and operating tool which is extremely simple and efficient in construction and operation, .capable of economical manufacture and. which has long life. i,

Still further features of novelty and advantage are provided byV my invention but those will become obvious from the following detailed expla- 4 Claims. (Cl. 29e-270) `nation of one of the practical embodiments thereof. I wish it understood in this connection, however, that the specic details of construction which I shall now describe are merely illustrative isince, with the understanding of the invention Fig. 2 is a View like Fig. 1 except that the parts A are shown in clamp operating position;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2,'

Fig. 4 is a top plan View'. taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2, with parts broken away for illustrative purposes;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but with no parts being broken away;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing i' thefclamp-receiving cradle in an adjusted position andA showing a clamp in position in the tool;

and

Fig. 7 is a section on line 'l-1 of Fig. 5.

In the drawing I show at 5 a pistol-shaped housing or body comprised of a pair of oppositely disposed channeled sides 5a, 5bl secured together by rivets 6. To facilitate assembly and to strengthen the housing I provide a guide 1 comprised of a U-shaped or ychanneled member whose bottom wallvla is spot Welded to the side member 5a and whose sides 1b extend above the plane of the sides of the side member 5a, to t between the sides of the side member 5b when assembled.

A channeled operating lever I0 is a fulcrumed between sides 5a, 5b by a cross pin II, the lower end Ilia` of the lever projecting out of the housing for manual manipulation. The upper or inner end of the lever presents bifurcations I0b. One of the bifurcations has provided therethrough a curved slot I2 for the purpose to be described, the side wallr of the slot providing a shoulder I2a.

A cradle member I5 ofr U-shaped cross section is mounted in the housing to reciprocate through the end opening I6 provided by the left-hand end of the housing, the inner or right-hand end Ilia of the cradle member having a longitudinal slot I'I in its bottom wall to pass the bifurcations Illb, and said inner end provides a guideway for a plunger 20, which latter element is U-sliaped in plan section andr has secured to its end wall a y clamp-engaging plunger element 2l which projects axially of the cradle I5 to engage the springpressed plunger P of a clamp A (see Fig. 6).

The inner ends of the lever bifurcations Ib are pivotally connected to the plunger element 2| by means of a link 23 and cross pins 22.

A pair of depending ears 25 are provided on the cradle member l 5 by being cut from the sides thereof and bent downwardly, and between those ears the outer end of a link 25 is pivotally connected by a pin 21. The opposite or inner end of link 2E carries a cross pin 28 which projects into the slot l2, being adjustable therealong between the positions of Figs. 2 and 6. That is, for relatively long clamps A, the pin would be set to pull against the left-hand end of the slot l2 (see Figs. l and 2) and for relatively short clamps the pin would pull against the other end oi the slot (see Fig. 6), being prevented from accidentally escaping from the latter position of adjustment by the shoulder I2a.

From the right-hand end of the cradle member l5 there is a depending arm 29 to the outer end of which a compression spring 30 Ais secured as by a loop, the opposite end of the spring being anchored to the side member 5a of the housing by being looped through an eye 3l struck out of the material of the side member.

The top portions of the side members 5a, 5b at their left-hand ends are cut away as shown at 35 in Fig. 5 to permit a clamp A to be dropped into and removed from the cradle i5.

To secure the clamp A against outward longitudinal and upward lateral movement in the cradle, I inwardly emboss in each of the opposite 'sides of the cradle member a stop element 4B,

which is in the shape of an inverted L (see Fig. 2) the cradle member'being long enough that the distance between the inner end of the top portion lla of the stop element and the' outer end of the plunger iinger 2l is sufiicient to enable that portion of the clamp A between its inner stop shoulder S and the right-hand end of the fastener plunger P to be dropped into the cradle through the open top. After being thus dropped into the cradle, a slight tipping of the cradle or a slight inward movement of the plunger finger 2l will move the stop shoulder S of the clamp into engagement with the lower portion 49h of the Stop element andbeneath the portion 40a thereof, so that the clamp cannot escape from the cradle until again moved to the right to clear the stop element portion 40a.

, In operation, the parts of the tool are in the position shown in Fig. l. First the clamp is dropped into the cradle I5 through the housing opening 35 and by grasping the handle portion of the housing and the lever lll and pressing them together, the cradle member I5 and the plunger member 2) are caused to slide or telescope relative togeach other-that is, the cradle member l5, by virtue of being connected to the lever below the fulcrumed end il, is pulled inwardly, while the plunger member 20, by virtue of being connected to the lever above the fulcrumed end ll, is pushed outwardly, so that the plunger P of the clamp is forced into the body of the clamp to protract the outer end W of the clamp from the clamp body, compressing the clamp spring T. During this movement the clamp cannot laterally escape from the cradle since the sides and bottom of the latter prevent downward or sideways escape and the overhan-ging portion 45a of the stop element prevents upward escape. To release the clamp the operation is in the reverse direction.

If it be desired to adjust the tool to receive a short clamp, this may be accomplished by holding the lever against movement and inverting the tool while pushing inwardly on the outer end of the cradle member I5, This causes the pin 28 of the link 26 to move along the slot I2 and engage behind the shoulder l2a of the slot (see Fig. 6).

The spring 30 normally urges the parts into the inoperative position of Figs. 1 and 6, thus urging the cradle member outwardly and causing the upper end of the lever to swing to the right, moving the piston member 20 inwardly of the housing.

I claim:

1. A clamp-operatingr tool comprising a body, a telescopic member carried by the body, said telescopic member consisting of a pair of elements mounted for longitudinal movement in opposite directions relative to each other, one of said elements being trough-shaped to provide a U-shaped cradle presenting stop means for stationarily retaining a clamp in position to be engaged by the other element, means for simultaneously moving said elements in opposite directions, said means including a lever, and means fulcruming the lever between its ends in the body, said lever being operatively connected to one of the elements at one side of the fulcrum and operatively connected to the other element at the other side of the fulcrum.

2. A clamp-operating tool comprising a body, a telescopic member carried by the body, said telescopic member consisting of a pair of elements mounted for longitudinal movement in opposite directions relative to each other, one of said elements providing a cradle presenting means for stationarily retaining a clamp in position to be engaged by the other element, means for simultaneously moving said elements in opposite directions, and means for longitudinally adjusting one of said elements relative to the other.

3. A clamp-operating tool comprising a body, a lever, means pivotally fulcruxning the lever between its ends in the body, a cradle member reciprocally mounted in the body, a plunger member carried by the body for movement axially relative to the cradle member, means carried by the cradle member to stationarily retain a clamp in position to be engaged by the plunger member, said lever presenting a curved slot at one side of the fulcrum, a link pivotally connected at one end to the cradle member, said link having a lateral projection at its other end extending into said slot and being adjustable into positions engageable against either end of the slot, and means operatively connecting the plunger member to the lever at the other side of the fulcrum.

4. A clamp-operating tool comprising a body, a lever pivotally secured to the body, a clampcompressing member movably carried by the body, a clamp-retaining cradle longitudinally slidably mounted in the body for movement relative to the compressing member, and means for simultaneously moving said member and cradle relative to each other comprising link elements operatively connected at one end to the cradle and clamp-compressing member, respectively, and adjustably connected at their other ends to the lever. Y

FRANK C. WALLACE. l 

